Two released after arrests during North Melbourne counter-terror operation
The two people who were arrested by heavily armed, masked officers near an inner-Melbourne Anglican Church on Friday have been released. It comes as police remain tight-lipped over the counter-terror operation.
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The two people who were arrested by heavily armed, masked officers near an inner-Melbourne Anglican Church on Friday have been released.
AFP and Victoria Police have refused to offer further information over the North Melbourne raid, where two people were arrested.
But on Saturday night, officers confirmed the duo was released after they “assisted police with enquiries” and no charges had yet been laid.
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handcuffed man in a white forensic jumpsuit was seen in video footage on Friday being led from nearby St Mary’s Church to a waiting vehicle.
A woman was also cuffed and arrested while a block of apartments was searched on Bedford St.
Detectives from the Melbourne Joint Counter Terrorism Team (MJCTT) repeated on Saturday night that they had had conducted a “routine operation” and search of the residential property.
It was part of “ongoing intelligence gathering” and not linked to a specific incident, police said.
Officers returned to the Bedford St apartments on Saturday, with neighbours still waiting on information as to what occurred in their street.
ARREST AFTERMATH FILMED BY WITNESSES
Phone footage supplied to the Herald Sun showed a man dressed in black sports gear sitting on the ground, while police with machine guns stood guard around him, about 2pm yesterday.
Both the Australian Federal Police and Victoria Police were tight-lipped, refusing to disclose details of the incident but stating there was “no threat to the community”.
Local residents reported seeing one man arrested outside St Mary’s Anglican church on Queensberry St.
Officers carrying machine guns, one wearing military-style camouflage gear, could be seen standing over the man, later seen in a white disposable forensic suit.
Residents were told to “stay indoors” as intersecting Howard St was put into lockdown. A strong police presence could also be seen at the nearby Viscount apartment block on Bedford St.
At 5pm, AFP forensics officers were at the scene.
Nearby resident Sara told the Herald Sun that she heard police make the arrest.
“They yelled, ‘Get down on the ground!’” she said.
“I looked out of the window and saw the man on the ground with a police officer in camouflage gear on top of him.
“The police had these huge guns and it looked really serious.”
Sara added: “I saw the police put the man into a white suit that sort of immobilised him. I didn’t hear sirens or see lights or anything, and he wasn’t yelling or screaming or resisting arrest. There was very little commotion,” she said.
Another female resident, who did not want to be named, said she was told to “stay indoors” by police.
Armed police are guarding an apartment block in North Melbourne, believed to be linked to an earlier police operation in the same suburb â¦@theheraldsunâ© pic.twitter.com/jx7kbOpYHs
— Sophie Welsh (@soph_welsh) April 26, 2019
“They blocked off both ends of the street,” she said.
A male resident said that a nearby school was also put into lockdown.
“I walked past the school principal on the street and he asked me, ‘Where is he?’,” the resident said.
“He must have been talking about the man the police arrested later.”
French tourist Albane Clemente, staying at a nearby hostel, said that she saw the man on the ground being guarded by two “soldiers”.
“He was sitting on the ground wearing normal casual clothes, and he wasn’t making any noise or anything,” Ms Clemente said.
“The police came to our hostel and told us to stay indoors.”
Another French tourist, Amin, said that the man detained by the officers looked very “normal”.
“He was maybe 185cm tall, and maybe about 30,” he said.
“He had sort of tanned skin and was not resisting the police or anything.”